Spider Lilies (彼岸花)
by candygood1
Summary: Jun had no intentions to be reborn into Tokyo Ghoul and she certainly wasn't expecting to be reborn as the ghoul mask maker's older sister, Nagi, either. But that was life and she had plans to live it to the fullest. UtaxOC Incest warning AU SI!OC [The Songs I Will Sing Rewrite] Currently Pre-canon
1. Prologue

**Spider Lilies (** **彼岸花** **)**

 ** _A/N It's been a while since I've read Tokyo Ghoul and I've only skimmed through most of Re:. I got a lot of this information from wiki and skimming so feel free to correct me if I have anything wrong and just know that I will likely be editing chapters once I finish reading. Also I reeeeeeeeally suck at writing battle scenes so ^^;;_**

 **Prologue**

 **Red…** and the deep voice of a man were the first things she remembered greeting her as she was birthed into the new world.

At the time she didn't know where she was or how she got there. All she remembered was the face of a tired looking woman and the soothing lullaby she sang.

Her new body was sticky and hot while her vision was so blurred she couldn't even make out most of the colors surrounding her. She tried to scrunch her eyes to see better but just as she did a pale white color blocked her vision. She waved her arms feebly in an effort to clear her vision but something stopped her and the deep voice began to mumble something as if it was trying to calm her down.

 _"_ _Now, now koibito-chan. Papa just wants to see your face."_

Though it took some time she was able to realize that the deep voice was coming from her new father. For months, until her vision cleared, she found herself being drawn to his voice and listened carefully to each and every word he whispered to her.

 _"_ _I've heard most babies your age aren't as calm as you koibito-chan. You really are living up to your name aren't you?"_

 _"_ _Maa, maa Nagi-chan. Trying to make me bald, are we? We can't have that can we now?"_

It was through his whispering and the raw strips of meat and organs she was fed that Nagi made the connection between her universe and the manga Tokyo Ghoul.

A normal person should have freaked out and may have even tried to deny their cannibalistic nature but Nagi never was normal. Her apathetic personality had many perks and not caring was one of them. Be it cannibalism, adultery or any other thing religion and morality restricted she didn't care as long as she was left alone.

Also, why bother going through an identity crisis and denying herself when she had a whole new life ahead of her. Being a ghoul, there were already people out there who wanted to kill her just for what she was. Why waste that time breaking down when she could use it to learn how to survive.

That being said she snuggled deeper into her father's warm chest and let his heartbeat lull her into a slumber.


	2. Chapter One Manifestation

**Spider Lilies (** **彼岸花)**

 **A/N Grammar Mistakes. Looking for a Beta ^^**

 **Chapter One**

 **Manifestation**

Time passed relatively peacefully for Nagi. With the exception of an overly cheerful father and a somewhat abusive mother that is. But she put it down to the fact her mother, Misaki, had only been 15 when she had accidentally gotten pregnant from a one night fling with her papa, Kashio.

 _"This is all your fault…if you hadn't been fucking born I wouldn't be in this shit!"_

Bruises weren't uncommon for days when Kashio had to go 'hunting' but then again that only lasted until he found out and started taking her along with him. He'd usually leave Nagi at a park or canal someplace near their tent and come back around an hour later with the meat.

Nagi was fairly disappointed with this at first. While ' _cannibalism_ ' still fascinated her to a point, not being able to see it up front had begun to dull her senses. Just eating chewed up bits of human took all the thrill out of the subject.

So, out of the sheer boredom, while waiting for Kashio to return, Nagi began experimenting with her kagune. Truth be told it wasn't exactly experimenting. Since she couldn't remember what exactly triggered the manifestation she had to do with just theorizing. Her latest theory was that extreme stress or trauma could cause the manifestation to begin.

She tried to think of ways to test out this theory but would always find flaws that would prevent them from ever working.

One of her plans had to do with annoying Misaki enough she'd cause enough trauma to trigger the manifestation. Another was to starve herself until she went mad enough to awaken it herself.

Neither of those plans would ever work. Kashio would never allow anything of those sorts happen to her and, no matter how much she annoyed Misaki, she knew the woman would never stoop so low as to kill her.

There was one other plan Nagi had on mind but that involved a higher risk level than either of them. She'd come up with this plan when she'd overheard a group of students in the park. Their conversation had been about the recent murder of a primary school teacher named Yumimura Kinta.

At first, she had been reported missing by her husband. But then, just a few days into searching, the police found traces of her DNA in the primary school's lunchroom.

Upon further investigation, it was revealed that one of the school lunch ladies had murdered the teacher because of a comment she had made about ghouls. The lunch lady was an extreme ghoul sympathizer and upon hearing the teacher's negative words about ghouls and saying that it would be better off starting with the _'young ones'_ she had snapped.

She had lured the teacher into the kitchens where she murdered and butchered her carcass. Her bones were boiled for stock, her meat made into various side dishes and her organs ground up into sausage meat. By the time the lunch lady was arrested, only the head and nails of the teacher remained.

The case had made national headlines for a few weeks but that was all. Like any other case, it vanished as quickly as it had appeared. That is…only on a national scale. The case still haunted the streets near the primary school which had been shut down for obvious reasons. The children and staff who had eaten the teacher's carcass unknowingly were either in concealing or hospital.

There was also a sudden increase in violence towards the homeless and open ghoul sympathizers. There was even a new game the humans created called 'kill the ghoul' where they stalked a particular person for one week and beat them up if they came to the conclusion that person was a ghoul. They never once caught a single ghoul but no one reported them or stepped in to save the so called _'ghoul candidates'._

The students Nagi overheard were one of the gangs who participated in the games. Their next target was the homeless man who lived a block away from the park they were in.

The plan she had, involved either provoking them or _'stumbling across'_ the crime scene. Both had risks and roadblocks but in the end, Nagi chose the latter. She knew the exact time and place the games were going to take place so the next stage of planning was easy. The hardest part would be hiding from her papa.

* * *

"Mama, let's go play."

"Hah?"

"Play! Let's go play!"

Nagi tried her hardest not to let her aching lips drop as she tried to coax the woman to the playground. Her previous escape attempts from Kashio had failed so Nagi then decided to change her target. While it was hard to get Misaki to leave the tent Nagi thought she'd be easier to slip away from than Kashio.

There was also the fact that only an about an hour was left before the _'games'_ started so by that point she was getting quite desperate.

"Maaamaaaa! Let's goooo plaaaaay!"

"FINE! Just for an hour! And don't you dare try and run off you hear me?!"

When Misaki finally cracked, the smile on Nagi's face warped into a more genuine one. She cheerfully hummed to herself all the way to the playground where she processed to ignore Misaki's warning and run off as soon as the woman's eyes were turned.

By the time she arrived at the target's usual shelter, the gang she had eavesdropped on had already beaten the man half to death. It only took a small whiff of the overwhelming scent of blood for her kakugan to trigger.

"Oi, what's that?"

 _"Holy shit! Look at those eyes!"_

 _"Fuck! Is that a real one?!"_

 _"Looks like it. Shit. Let's just get it before its parents show up or something."_

It didn't take long for one of the gang members to spot her. It didn't take long for him to initiate the attack on her either. While it was the gang's first time attacking a real ghoul, they had gotten cocky from their recent games and attacked her without mercy.

The first attack on her was from a metal bat. It was already bloodied with the homeless man's blood but that didn't affect the hit on her at all. The bat hit her directly in the stomach, sending her to her knees.

Before she even had the chance to ready herself for the next attack the bat came down on her once again, this time on her shoulders.

The bat came down on her again and again. Soon it was joined with a wooden bat, plank, and bb gun. The attacks on her didn't stop but her kagune didn't manifest either.

The theory hadn't worked. **_IT HADN'T WORKED!_**

 ** _'No! It has to work! I'm not going to die like this! I'm not going to die here by their fucking hands!'_**

Just as the attacks were beginning to become just too much for her, Nagi could feel a fierce stabbing pain focusing near the back of her waist. There was a hot sensation that coursed around the center of that pain, only to explode abruptly as she gained control over her senses once more.

 _'I did it…I finally did it!'_

The sheer joy Nagi felt as she saw the tentacles emerging from her back was unexplainable. She was memorized by them to the point she didn't even hear the screams around her as the gang members fell on by one. It was only when a familiar pair of hand held her up by the armpits that she snapped out of her daze.

 _"Wipe that smile off your face, kid. You look like shit and I'm not getting blamed for this."_


	3. Chapter Two Manipulation and Family

**Spider Lilies (** **彼岸花** **)**

 **Chapter Two**

 **Manipulation and Family**

For once Nagi was at a loss for words as she lay helplessly in the arms of her mother. Said woman, however, didn't share her same sentiments as she snorted openly at her daughter's overwhelmed features.

"I'm not as stupid as I act. Your plans had a lot of flaws to begin with but underestimating your prey was by far the stupidest thing you could have done."

Nagi flushed crimson as Misaki continued to point out each and every single one of her plan's flaws. It frustrated her to no end that a woman who was mentally 7 whole years younger than her could take apart and criticize a plan that had taken her weeks to perfect.

It was humiliating but in the end, it didn't matter how she felt. While Nagi had lived a 'relatively peaceful' life in a human-run society, Misaki had grown up beside and became what her previous world would have considered cold-blooded murderers. It was pathetic to even compare what little she remembered about this world with the vast knowledge and experience Misaki held beneath her dark raven curls.

"'m sorry…"

"The fuck do you think you apologizing now will help with anything?"

"…"

"Damn…I'm not cut out for this shit. Kashio can deal with you when we get back."

With that Misaki fixed her hold on Nagi and took off from the gory crime scene. Curious as to why Misaki was in such a hurry to leave and waste a perfectly good pile of meat, Nagi glanced over her mother's shoulders and back to the scattered corpses of her attackers. She watched as a hoard of ghouls gathered around to claim the bloody remains and caught a glimpse of the violent battle that proceeded to take place before the scene completely disappeared from her line of sight.

She got a hard smack from Kashio when they arrived back at the tent but in her mind, a swollen cheek was well worth all the fun she was going to have in the future.

* * *

 _Rinkaku._ That was the type of kagune she had managed to gain.

The tentacles she could now release at will were cherry red in colour and held a viscous liquid like texture that fascinated her to no ends. Kashio once commented on how strange the stickiness of her tentacles were, adding that it could be a mutation she had inherited from Misaki. Said woman had scoffed but hadn't denied the possibility.

After her manifestation, she had gotten a quick and dirty explanation on what type her kagune was and what it could do. How did her parents do this? Well, they took her out on a hunt where Misaki fought another ghoul while Kashio explained what was going on in the sidelines.

By the end of the hunt, the ghoul was bloodied to a pulp but her parents discarded the deformed corpse and went to find a human for their monthly meal. Nagi tried to swipe a bite of the ghoul but Kashio had forcefully dug the putrid tasting meat out from her throat before she could swallow it down. The taste was foul and Misaki had scrunched up her face in disgust at what she had almost done.

"Don't go eating shit like that when we have plenty of food lying around, brat."

Nagi pouted. She had gotten smacked around the head for that but it was well worth it. She didn't get why eating ghoul meat was so taboo to her parents. Cannibalism wasn't anything new to them. She had seen other ghouls do it after duels. She couldn't understand how they could murder one of their own kind but refuse to even take a bite of their flesh.

 _'_ _Maybe it has something to do with the taste? She did taste pretty awful…'_

* * *

The more she experimented on her tentacles, the more control, and knowledge she gained over her kagune. When she first manifested her kagune Nagi could only control the hardness and thickness of her tentacles to a certain limit point. Nowhere days, she could get her kagune up to 10cm in thickness and a meter in length. It wasn't nearly enough for her to be satisfied but it was a start. Nagi continued to idly play around with her kagune and spent her days trying to make her tentacles as thin as she could.

Days passed like that in a blink of an eye. Before she knew it a year had already passed and Misaki's abdomen had swelled to the point the older ghoul could no longer hide it underneath her shirt. It didn't surprise Nagi when she finally looked long enough at her own mother to notice the woman's growing bulge. After all, they all lived in the same space so it was impossible for her not to have heard (or seen) her parents fucking once in a while. Her parents had no love for each other. It was a wonder why they bothered to stay together at all. But love wasn't a necessity in sex and neither were the consequences of doing it without birth control.

Misaki and Kashio weren't cut out to be parents. They had her because they couldn't afford an abortion and Misaki didn't want to risk her own life just to get rid of her. They did the bare minimum of what was expected of them. Fed her, clothed her and teach her how to survive. Some say that's enough but really was it?

Misaki was no role model of a mother. The older woman's bitter behavior had Nagi wondering if it could be a side effect of a sort of postpartum depression. She still remembered the days when she was a wailing newborn when Misaki would cry while shaking her until she shut up. Because of this, she had quickly learned to keep her cries of hunger and dirty nappies to when Kashio was nearby.

Speaking of Kashio, while he held more affection for her that affection was more of that of the affection an owner gave to his pet. She used to think it was something else. When he was all she had to rely on, but now it was all too clear in her eyes.

Nagi really pitied her yet to be born sibling. While she was an old soul that had had enough brains to survive in their delightfully dysfunctional family the same couldn't be said for them. For their sake, Nagi only hoped they were born as insane as she was.

* * *

On December 2th, a wrinkled, slimy red creature was introduced to her as her baby brother. After a total of 14 hours of labour, he was birthed into the world by a backstreet doctor's ungloved hands. To make matter worse they were promptly thrown out of the clinic as soon as the umbilical cord was cut.

 _'_ _Charming, really just charming.'_

Because Misaki hadn't had enough time to recover from the birth, Kashio had to carry her back in his arms. Unfortunately, this meant Nagi had to carry her unnamed brother. He squirmed a lot. She almost dropped him at one point. Still, he made it home in one piece so all was good.

* * *

Things didn't really change after her brother was born. This made alarm bell ring in Nagi's mind. Unlike with her Kashio didn't seem all that interested in her brother. It was to the point he still hadn't even been named even though weeks had passed since his birth. Misaki would feed him. But what newborn could chew on a chunk of meat tossed at them?

Nagi really didn't want to care about him. She really didn't want to attach herself to him. All she wanted was to be left to her own experiments in peace but how could she when she heard **_his_** piercing wails and be reminded of the **_hell_** she went through.

 **"** **SHUT THE FUCK UP! WHY THE HELL WON'T YOU JUST SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH FOR ONCE!"**

As Misaki screamed she took hold of her youngest and raised her arms as if to throw him to the hard dirt floor below. But, just as her arms let go of the tiny baby Nagi's kagune burst out of her and gently wrapped around him. Before Misaki could do any more harm Nagi took her brother into her arms and allowed her kagune to form a ball-shaped barrier around them. She could feel Misaki's own kagune trying to claw its way through but in the end, it never managed to fully penetrate it.

Nagi really hadn't wanted to get involved with her brother but if she didn't she knew those memories would haunt her till the end of her days.

She would care for him. Maybe even let herself become attached to him. But she knew that he would never be a 'brother' to her.

 _"_ _Let's hope papa comes home quickly. Nee? Otouto-chan."_

* * *

 **A/N I almost cried when I saw so many people were still reading this. Honestly, I didn't think I would be able to continue writing any of my fics but I finally managed to pick my pen back up after realizing just how many of you all were waiting for another chapter.** **ㅠㅠ** **Thank you and I hope you all enjoy the new chapters I'll be updating. I don't know how regularly I'll be able to update but I'm not giving up just yet!**

 **P.S. My writing style is still a bit rusty so if you spot anything weird don't hesitate to say.**


	4. Chapter Three Uta

**Spider Lilies (** **彼岸花** **)**

 **Chapter Three**

 **Uta**

Despite her earnest efforts, Nagi's kagune shield eventually gave way to Misaki's persistent attacks. The older ghoul had lunged straight at her two children as soon as her eldest's protective barrier had collapsed. She came at such speed and ferocity that Nagi barely managed to push her brother to the side and out of their mother's line of sight. In a pitiful attempt to distract the older woman from her youngest's wails, Nagi released her last remaining tentacle at the delusional woman and watched as it crumbled under her fists.

"Is that all you got, kid?" Misaki said, smirking down at her daughter's unflinching figure. That smirk fell no sooner than it had formed as to Misaki's distaste, Nagi showed no visible reactions to her words besides blinking.

It had always bothered Misaki that Nagi failed to show any real fear towards her. The only time the 6-year-old had even shown her some sort of fear had been in her newborn years. Once she learned how to mobilize herself Nagi had become the unflinching punch bag she was now. Misaki hated it. She hated that **_she_** , the ghoul who had once terrified the night streets, had fallen so low that her own child wasn't afraid of her. The brat should be trembling and begging for her mercy!

 _'_ _If she ain't afraid of me now…I'll just give her something to fear for…'_ Misaki thought as she once again poised her scaled tentacles. But instead of pointing them at Nagi, Misaki aimed them at the wailing bundle that lay to the side. It was only then that flicker of emotion appeared in the 6-year-old ghoul's eyes. When she saw this, the smirk on Misaki's lips returned.

To Misaki's mind, that emotion was fear. But to Nagi herself, it was just annoyance. While the whole experience should have been terrifying to her, Nagi felt nothing of the sort. Truthfully, the whole ordeal seemed more like a tedious chore than a life-threatening ordeal.

If her aim had been to survive then she would have just escaped through the tent flaps the moment Misaki had started her tantrum. The only reason she was here was because of her brother. To keep her damned memories overlapping whenever she saw the newborn being mistreated… It was all such a pain in the ass.

Despite how bothersome the whole situation was though. She still needed to strategize the best she could. Her opponent was a far more experienced ghoul with the same kagune type as her. No matter how _'gifted'_ she was in kagune manipulation, Nagi could never beat Misaki's brute strength. For her younger brother to have even a chance of survival in a situation like this was for her to play decoy until Kashio returned.

 _'_ _Ahh…how long until Kashio comes back again?'_

For not the first time in 6 years did she wish they owned some sort of time telling device.

* * *

In the end, Nagi had managed to keep Misaki's attacks focused solely on her so her brother came out of the situation unharmed. The same couldn't be said about Nagi herself though. If Kashio had returned even a few minutes later, Nagi would have most likely been suffocated to death by her mother's own kagune.

Speaking of the woman Misaki, after Kashio had forced them apart, had spat in the older ghoul's face and stormed out the tent after screaming, "I can't take this anymore! You can keep the fucking brats. I'm done! Keep living in this shit-hole! See if I care!"

Kashio, in a fit of rage, went after her, not even sparing a glance at Nagi's battered form.

Nagi, because of the damage Misaki had done to her kagune, couldn't move an inch from where she was lying in fear of accidentally reopening her wounds. Her body ached, her stomach heaved and she felt as though she could still feel the suffocating grasp of her mother's kagune wrapped around her neck. To put in bluntly, she felt like shit and lost consciousness shortly after the two adults left.

She woke up about an hour later, still a bit sore and regenerating bit of flesh here and there but, feeling mostly refreshed. Kashio wasn't there when she woke up so she took to checking up on her brother who for the most part had somehow managed to keep completely silent while she slept. The tiny thing blinked up at her. To think she had to go through all that and he chooses now to be the perfect time to be quiet. It irked her somewhat but it wasn't like she could take it out on a baby so she just humored him by allowing him to wriggle freely around in her arms.

While doing so she scanned her surrounding to check if Misaki's kagune had done any damage to the tent. Thankfully there weren't any major holes but it was nothing a bit of stitching wouldn't fix so she just left it for later. With her scanning done Nagi eyes now wondered to want would be her and her brother's _Dinner._ The black body bag lay just a few feet from her and her stomach growled at the scent of the much-needed nutrients nearby. A part of Nagi thought about sneaking a few bites but, knowing the consequences weren't worth the few morsels, she chose to simply continue savoring the rare moments of silence while waiting for Kashio to return.

It took another three hours for the older ghoul to return and surprisingly he wasn't empty-handed. He had a bag of strangely familiar smelling meat. It wasn't hard to deduce just whose corpse the meat had come from. The fact that Kashio had killed Misaki hardly surprised Nagi. It was no secret that Kashio held no tolerance towards anyone who disrespected him. What did surprise her was the fact he had brought the corpse back home with him.

She would have asked him what he planned to do with it when he shoved a large piece of the ghoul's meat into her mouth. The foul taste assaulted her taste buds as soon as the meat entered her mouth. She forced her sharp canines to tear apart the off-tasting meat and used her molars to quickly chew up the pieces into swallowable sizes. Even after she had swallowed the offending piece of meat, the aftertaste still lingered in her mouth.

 _'_ _I can still taste her rotten personality.'_

Kashio, who had been gleefully watching as she ate, grinned widely at her and asked, "How's the meat, Nagi-chan?"

Without missing a single beat, Nagi answered honestly, "Revolting."

Kashio's smile grew even wider at her answer. He even reached down to ruffle her head, something he hadn't done in over 3 years. "Now, now, you shouldn't be so picky about what you eat koibito-chan~"

Knowing better to argue, Nagi humored him and allowed him to shove another piece into her mouth. It was only after she had swallowed down that piece as well did she even mention Misaki.

While pretending not to know the source of her meal, Nagi asked the whereabouts of her mother whilst also mentioning that her younger sibling needed to be fed. "Papa, where's mama? Otouto-chan has to eat soon."

Kashio looked confused at first. Then, after he finally seemed to realize he even had a second child, Kashio simply shrugged. "Maybe she'll come back later? Just chew up a few chucks and feed them to him. He should be old enough to right?"

It took Nagi a few seconds before she realized that no her father wasn't stupid enough he didn't know a two-week-old baby can't eat solids yet, but yes he didn't care enough to remember his own child's age and informed him of his second child's age. "He's 2 weeks old, papa."

Even after hearing his youngest's age Kashio simply waved it off again. "Ah… He should be fine. What's his name again?"

Nagi didn't even bother wasting her time processing her thoughts and bluntly told him, "He doesn't have one, papa."

This time Kashio actually decided to take some time with his next words. He looked to his second child and then at his first before snapping his fingers.

"Uta. That's a good name. He can be Uta from now on."

With that Kashio turned his attention away from his children and refocused on the human carcass he's dragged in earlier that day.

Nagi was unimpressed by her brother's unimaginative name but it was a far cry better than having him grow up mistaking his name as _'otouto-chan'_ so she had no room to complain. She took the newly dubbed ' _Uta_ ' towards the pile of their mother's meat. She tore off a small chunk and tried to chew it up the best she could before feeding him it bit by bit. He didn't seem as affected by the taste as she was but Nagi contributed that to the fact that he hadn't had a decent meal since he was born. Once he was fed, Nagi burped him and set him to the side before going to devour the remaining pieces of the putrid tasting meat.

It was while she was doing that that it finally dawned on her that she was literally eating the cold corpse of her mother. She wondered if she should be horrified. But horrified of what? Should she be horrified that she could eat her own mother's flesh and blood without even blinking an eye? Or should she be horrified that her own father was watching her eat it with such glee while he refused to even touch it?

She wasn't sad that Misaki died. She never liked her or shared the connection most children instinctively had with their parents. Maybe that was the reason why she didn't see anything wrong with eating the woman's carcass beside the horrendous taste. Was it really though? Nagi didn't know, but it would do for now.

* * *

 **A/N Thank you all for your positive words and encouragement. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well and I'll you guys soon. (Maybe even in a few hours but let's hope I just didn't jinx it ;))**


	5. Chapter Four Change

**Spider Lilies (** **彼岸花** **)**

 **Chapter Four**

 **Change**

As amusing as it had been for the first few weeks, after 5 years of literally raising her younger brother, Nagi decided that caring for a baby wasn't anything she wanted to experience again anytime soon.

Teething had been a terror. It hadn't helped that Uta's _'mine stage'_ happened within that period as well. Nagi had had to put up with more than a few bite marks from when the tiny thing would suddenly declare she was his and bite her. It didn't help that the bite marks would disappear right in front of Uta, who seemed to take offense to this and bite the very same spot once more. Nagi only humored Uta through this period because one; it was kind of cute, and two; she could practice controlling her own self-healing mechanism. After all, it was easy to underestimate someone if they had a few open wounds to show.

Like this Uta would unknowingly help her experiment with her ghoul abilities from time to time. There had been a small incident a few years back, when Uta was still only crawling, where he had somehow managed to crawl to one of the abandoned steel pipes that lay near the tent. The pipe had been too small for Nagi to crawl into, and too long for her to reach inside. It didn't help that Uta had decidedly curled up in the center whilst also stubbornly refusing to crawl back out.

In the end, Nagi had used her kagune to cut the pipe in half before reaching in to take the pouty toddler back into the tent. It was while trying to keep him from escaping again that Nagi had thought to herself about how easier it would be if she had another arm. Then it occurred to her that she had her kagune. There was no rule that a kagune had to stay in the shape of a tentacle. Neither was there a rule that there was a limit to how she could shape her kagune. In theory, she should be able to manipulate them into arms. So she tried…and succeeded.

Her first attempts were a bit too soft to feel like flesh and red to resemble anything as coloured as her skin tone. But practice makes perfect. In over a year, Nagi managed to utilize her kagune arms to grab Uta when he was too far out of her reach. They also helped when Uta wanted to play tag and she couldn't be bothered to move, thus the invention of the game hand-tag.

Most of the shapes she molded her kagune into were things she thought of while keeping her younger brother amused. And while most of them wouldn't be very useful in battle, there were a few exceptions. One of Nagi's favorites was what Uta had dubbed her ' _Chameleon.'_

It had started out as pure curiosity. Due to what her parents called her _'mutation'_ , Nagi had the ability to manipulate her kagune into an almost liquid-like state. One day, while playing around with the sticky substance, Nagi had coiled it around her arms. For fun, she'd then tried to get it to mimic the arm underneath. The results had better than she'd expected. The only difference her mimicked arm had had with her other arms had been the thickness.

Nagi had been fascinated by the results. Shortly after the discovery, she'd begun to test it out on other parts of her body as well. _Chameleon_ was the game she'd made while testing the substance out on her face.

The game itself was quite simple. She would cover her face with her liquefied kagune and shape it into various faces which Uta would try and guess. From Kashio to the human they'd once ran past at the park, as long as she had a clear memory of what they looked like inside her head, Nagi could shift her kagune at will to mimic them.

But no matter how much Nagi enjoyed messing with this ability she didn't use it often. For some reason, Uta didn't like it when she changed her features around. Since she didn't exactly want to deal with Uta's tantrums, Nagi used it sparingly, preferably while the younger ghoul was taking his afternoon naps.

Nagi sometimes confused herself when she did things like this for Uta. Limiting herself wasn't something she enjoyed but when it came to her younger brother it became surprisingly easy. She didn't like it. But she didn't exactly find it annoying either. It was confusing to her but was so obvious to anyone who passed the two siblings in the streets.

After all the only time Nagi ever smiled was around Uta...

* * *

For the 5 years since Uta had been born, Nagi spent her days doing nothing much than amusing the toddler with her kagune. This almost painfully mundane life that Nagi had slowly grown accustomed to, however, was abruptly interrupted when Kashio was defeated in a duel against one of their ward leader's lackeys.

Nagi wasn't with Kashio during the duel. She had been watching over Uta as the younger ghoul napped when she'd heard a loud thud coming from outside the tent. Curious as to what had caused the noise, Nagi had peeked through the tent flaps. It was then that she'd seen the lackey's triumphant jeers and Kashio's limp figure slugged against a nearby tree. The lackey had taunted Kashio by holding up, what looked to be Kashio's amputated arm and bit off its fingers one by one.

When he couldn't get a reaction out of Kashio though, the lackey had thrown the arm at his feet and left the scene. Nagi had only dared to approach her father after the other ghoul had completely disappeared from her sight. Up until then, Nagi hadn't recognized Kashio's opponent. It was only as she saw the dark scorch marks near where Kashio was that she'd realized the ghoul was one of the ward leader's lackeys.

Nagi could only click her tongue in annoyance at another nuisance her father's antics had dragged into her life.

 _'_ _Useless till the end.'_

She stared down at Kashio in distaste. He looked to be as good as dead but by the rising of his chest, Nagi knew he had yet to join Misaki in the afterlife. If Nagi was even the slightest bit more sympathetic towards him, she could have saved him. It would have been easy enough to feed him a finger a two. But Nagi had no sympathy for a man who'd now left them to fend for themselves against one of the ward's most infamous ghouls.

Disturbing as it may be, Nagi found watching the life slowly drain out of the older ghoul's body almost amusing in a way. She had half the mind to see how long he lasted. It was a pity that she didn't have the time to do so…

Soon the lackey would come back to either finish him off or hunt them down. Uta would also be waking from his nap soon and, seeing as it had been over 3 weeks since their last meal, he'd probably appreciate a warm meal before being forced on the run. Even without those reasons though, Nagi was fairly sure it would have been just as easy as it was to decapitate her father as she did.

While she stripped his corpse of its meat, she was fairly disappointed that he didn't have that much soft tissue. His toned muscles may have served him well as a renowned dueler but now they were mere tough pieces of meat that she would have to soften for her younger brother to even attempt to eat. However, despite the toughness of the meat, it still didn't take her that long to completely strip the warm corpse down to the bones.

Once Nagi had gotten a fair amount of meat bundled up in a pile, she dug a small hole into the roots of the tree before her. Without the slightest hint of care, she dumped the heap of bones into the hole and was about to do the same to his head when she remembered Uta liked to suck on eyeballs like sweets and pocketed them before doing so.

Then, after filling the hold back in and taking a quick trip to a nearby stream to wash her stained hands, Nagi headed back into the tent where Uta was already awake and waiting for her.

Being as hungry as they were both siblings tucked into the meat as soon as Nagi set in down onto a clean surface. Nagi took the first bite from the pile and was assaulted with a familiar bile-like taste that almost made her skin crawl. It was a far cry better than when she had devoured Misaki's corpse but that didn't mean it was pleasurable.

Thankfully, Uta didn't seem to mind the taste. He greedily gobbled up the soft innards Nagi push towards him. When he'd eaten them all, he waited patiently for Nagi to chew up the muscle tissue. The two of them managed to finish off the horrendous tasting meat without much to say besides Uta's one question.

While he'd been waiting for Nagi to soften the muscle tissue for him, Uta had asked when _'tou-san'_ would be back. For a moment, Nagi had seriously deliberated on whether Uta really hadn't realized he'd been eating Kashio's carcass or if he was just playing dumb. In the end, however, Nagi had decided either way it didn't really matter.

"He'll be back when kaa-san does." Was what she told him and that seemed to be enough for him.

Immediately after they'd finished their meal, Nagi went to the center of the tent and dug out the tin can that she'd hidden beneath the dirt. For years she had been collecting the spare change Kashio had dragged in with their meals and stored them inside the rusted tin can. She had mostly been thinking of saving up enough money to someday buy a fake family register from the black market but now she'd have to use it for more immediate purposes.

Nagi swiftly took all the savings out from the can and stuffed them into the inner pockets of her discoloured jumper. She didn't bother taking anything else before heading out with Uta in hand. Almost everything was useless trinkets or oversized clothes. Though what they were wearing wouldn't last long, they were the darkest things they owned that wouldn't show the obvious bloodstains they'd require after hunting. If they needed more clothing she would either steal them from washing lines or hunt down someone of the same size. They didn't have time to go picking through the hoard of cloth in the corner.

Before they left the tent, Nagi used her kagune to change her facial features. Since she couldn't do the same for Uta, she had to wrap a handkerchief over half of his face. Suspicious as it was, as long as she carried him nobody would notice.

Nagi's plan was to stay like this until they reached another ward. The 4th ward was a preferable choice as while she'd have to be wary of the CCG investigators, this would mean that they were safe from being hunted down by the ghouls of this ward. If they could make it without being seen or caught by either threat, Nagi didn't know. But for now, it was the best shot they had of surviving.

* * *

 **A/N Thank you for the reviews and for enjoying my fic so much ! I'm not too sure about how this chapter came out but here goes nothing. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter as well!**

 **AnimeLover229: Love the idea and thank you! I am planning to make a side chapter of Uta's pov eventually but I'm not exactly as familiar with his characteristics as I like so it'll probably be on hold for a while. Again thanks /(^/)**

 **To those wondering if Nagi will ever gain a kakuja the answer is likely no. I say likely because I have a tendency to make sudden plot changes in the middle of writing. But for the most part, I'm not planning for Nagi to have a kakuja because of her kagune's mutilation.**

 **Also whilst Nagi and Uta both have shape-shifting abilities in my mind they are two entirely different things. The two may be siblings but that doesn't mean they share the exact same abilities. I plan to develop Nagi's kagune to resemble a chameleon's tongue. (Google if you are curious ;))**

 **At first, I had been planning for Nagi's kagune to take the shape of a spider (thus the title) but I had a hard time with whether a kagune would be able to take the shape of a spider's web and if that web would be strong enough not to be sliced into pieces. In the end, it was too much of a headache for me to deal with so I decided to base Nagi's kagune on Uta's shape-shifting (thus the chameleon).**

 **To some Nagi's kagune may not make any sense. This is because of two reasons. One; even after reading up a great deal I'm still not familiar with the limits of what a kagune can do. Two; because there's not much information about Uta's out there, meaning I have almost nothing but theory to work on, I had to theorize about some stuff and the clusterfuck of results became Nagi's kagune.**


	6. Chapter Five The Hunt

**Spider Lilies (** **彼岸花** **)**

 **A/N I warn you all… I really can't write fight scenes.**

 **Chapter Five**

 **The Hunt**

It took Nagi hours of walking to finally reach the 4th ward. It was a miracle in itself that she'd managed to get them there safely but that didn't mean that their hardships were over just yet. The heavy presence of CCG investigators made hunting within the 4th ward almost impossible…but that didn't mean it was entirely impossible either.

Even with the frequent CCG patrols, there were still blind spots where criminals, both human and ghoul, took up residence. While Yakuza were obviously off limits, sole drug dealers were a quick and easy meal that the community wouldn't miss. Their numbers would drop suddenly at certain points of the year but they never dropped completely. Some people were desperate for money and some were too cocky to think they'd be her next prey. Nagi took advantage of those fools for a whole three years before turning to a new game.

By that time Nagi had turned 15 and had saved enough drug money to buy a clean family register. It wasn't as spotless as she would have liked but it was better than nothing. With her and Uta's names registered under the surname 'Watanabe' and enough money to rent out a small studio, Nagi decided to take up an old hobby of hers.

'Blood Paintings' were something Nagi had enjoyed as Jun. It had been a hobby that had both disgusted and intrigued the people around her. She was curious to see how the beings of this world reacted to her paintings. How would the humans react? Would they coil back in horror? Maybe even take it up as a guilty pleasure. What about the ghouls. Would they be disgusted by the scent of a ghoul's blood? Or would they drool at the aroma that emitted from the paper if she used human blood? She was eager to find out.

Uta also showed interest in her hobby but not to the extent he wanted to join her. No, rather than the bloodied canvases, he was more focused on her pencil sketches.

"Teach me." He demanded at her one day.

Nagi, while amused at his interest in arts, flicked him on the forehead hard at his demanding tone. "Teach me how to draw please, nee-chan." She said unfazed by the pouty look the 8-year-old gave her.

When she didn't even blink at his puffed out cheeks, Uta quickly gave in and repeated her words. "Teach me how to draw please, nee-chan."

If Nagi was in an indulging mood she would have smiled and taken him over to her supplies. Unfortunately for Uta, She wasn't. Nagi was also a bit annoyed with him because they'd been in the middle of his studies when he'd first asked her. But, because she also wanted to get the study session over as soon as possible, Nagi decided to cut back a few pages of his worksheet.

"If you get at least 6 more kanji right, I'll teach you." Uta's face visibly lit up as Nagi said this. He quickly returned to his worksheet, leaving Nagi to her own thoughts.

 _'_ _Ah, looks like otouto-chan need a haircut.'_

Homeschooling wasn't Nagi's first choice when it came to Uta's education. Having to spend her time preparing months worth of study material from scratch, when she could leaving that and the teaching up to a paid professional, was not something Nagi had wanted to do. But, Uta could be stubborn at the worst possible times and Nagi had a habit of indulging him. When Uta refused to even step a foot into the school Nagi had been planning to enroll him in, the older ghoul simply sighed.

Nagi knew that she'd indulged Uta to the point he was border-line spoilt. She knew but she also knew that his spoilt behavior was limited towards her. It was this fact alone that was why Nagi left the younger ghoul to his peculiar antics as long as he didn't push her too far.

"Nee-chan, I'm done!" Uta declared, waving his filled out worksheet proudly in the air.

"Oh really? Let's see just how many you get right then." Unknown to the ghoul herself, Nagi's lips twitched upwards slightly at how Uta's bright smile fell no sooner had those words left her lips.

* * *

It hadn't even been a whole month since Nagi and Uta had moved into the studio when it became time for Nagi to restock their fridge. Nagi had been waiting for this day excitedly. This was because now that they were no longer homeless she could afford to leave Uta alone for longer periods of time without having to worry about his safety.

She'd only been limiting herself to the 4th ward all these years since she couldn't exactly leave Uta alone on the streets while traveling miles away just to indulge herself in a small murder spree. Before, they had needed a quick and easy source of food and cash, and the drug dealers had been a perfect match. But now, Nagi could finally be choosier about her meals and test out her kagune without many restraints.

"Nee-chan, can I come along?" It wasn't the first time Uta asked this. He had been pestering Nagi to take him with her but no matter how much he whined the older ghoul refused to even listen to him.

As a warning to stop, Nagi flicked Uta lightly on the nose and let a small frown form on her face. "You'll get to come along once you're older otouto-chan. For now, stop trying to test nee-chan's patients, alright?"

"Hai…" Uta pouted but he knew not to press his sister any further. Instead, he watched quietly as she began to prepare for her trip outside the ward.

It didn't take long for Nagi to prepare as the only thing she was taking was her wallet, a change of clothes and a case to bring back Uta's portion of the hunt. With a rare smile plastered on her lips, she stepped outside the studio doors and slowly headed to the nearby bus station.

* * *

The older of the ghoul siblings hadn't exactly planned to end up in the suburbs of 13th ward but she wasn't exactly complaining. With how chaotic the ward was already Nagi had no trouble finding a victim. Her hunt for food was finished in a matter of seconds. But that didn't mean she had to go home just quite yet…

In order to attract some of the more starving ghouls her way Nagi deliberately punctured her victim's arteries and let the heavy scent of blood be carried by the wind. It didn't take long before Nagi found herself surrounded by a small group of ghouls who looked almost as bloodthirsty as she was.

"Ara, ara, what's a princess like you doing out here so late at night? Didn't your kaa-san tell you it's dangerous~" One of the ghouls taunted. It didn't take a genius to tell that this ghoul was underestimating Nagi due to her size.

This didn't bother Nagi though. No, rather it had been the reaction she was looking for. So instead of losing her temper and attack him as he would have liked, Nagi just stood there and gleefully answered back. "My kaa-san died years ago, oji-san. Can't you tell? After all, I am out here all alone~"

The ghouls all looked at a loss for words at her answer. Some even laughed at her cheery tone. All of them had their guards down because they hadn't a clue just how dangerous the girl in front of them really was.

"Nee, nee, oji-sans~ since you're all in such a good mood, will you play a game of tag with me? It'll be fun~ I want to be it first so all of you have till the count of ten to run away!"

None of the ghouls took Nagi seriously. The hungrier ones even shouted at her to leave.

"Ha? Tag, you got to be kidding us!"

"Just leave the grub and get the hell out of here kid!"

Unfazed by them all Nagi continued to laugh. Then just as a few of the ghouls began to lunge at her, Nagi started to count. The higher she counted the more agitated the men got as she dodged their attacks effortlessly while doing so. When she finally got to ten, Nagi finally released her kagune and allowed her tentacles to roam free.

"THE HELL!"

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!"

"FUCK LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"

The ghouls ran but of course, Nagi wasn't going to let them go that easily. Her tentacles shot out all directions and quickly coiled themselves around their poor victims. In a desperate attempt some even tried to release their own kagune but as soon as they did another tentacle would shoot out and decapitate them where they stood. One of the men tried to use his hands to push the tentacle downwards but instead got his hands trapped in their sticky grasp.

 _'_ _Ahhh, this feeling….it's the best…'_

In the end, none of the ghouls made it out of her tentacles alive. While exhilarating as it was, the fight had almost been too easy for Nagi. She had wanted more of a challenge but then again today had only been a test run. She could still come back to play another day.

 _'I better get back before Uta decides to burn down the studio.'_


	7. Chapter Six Daily Life

**Spider Lilies (** **彼岸花** **)**

 **Chapter Six**

 **Daily Life**

After the first night, visiting the 13th ward had become a somewhat regular thing for Nagi. As her visits to the 13th wards frequented, a rumor began to spread about a murderous ghoul. They whispered about the ghoul with changing faces, who had no qualms about killing their own kind. _'The Faceless Reaper'_ was what they called them.

Not knowing when they'd strike next or what to look out for had driven some of the weaker ghouls to grow cautious. Some even fled on the mere sight of another ghoul. Most weren't so cautious, though. Besides the small number of ghouls who chose to flee, many of the 13th ward residential ghouls took to finding the famed ' _Reaper_ ' as a challenge. They roamed the streets night after night, itching for a chance to go against the Reaper's monstrous strength.

Nagi welcomed each and every one of those who dared challenge her. She savored the chilling tingle that ran down through her spine as she wandered the low lit alleyways. She shuddered in delight as one by one; her victims let out a chorus of high pitched squeals. It was this thrill that made her think that having to suffer through all those mundane days had been worth it in the end.

Despite her moniker of being a reaper, Nagi didn't always kill her opponents. If she found a strong enough opponent, she'd let them go for another day. But for the ones she did kill, Nagi would only eat on her 'meal days'. On any other day, she'd only pick out the fingers and eyeballs to take home and store in jars for snacks. While Nagi scarcely touched the jars, Uta occasionally liked to nibble on their contents' so the older ghoul kept restocking them whenever she could.

Blood was something Nagi had also thought about collecting from time to time but in the end, she didn't think it was worth the trouble. This was because even if Nagi did take it home and use it in her paintings, things would get complicated if any ghouls were to recognize the scents as one of their lost kin's or if the CCG investigators scanned it and found the DNA of murdered humans. That was a complete set of troubles Nagi found too bothersome to deal with.

As Jun she had used her own blood to paint as really no one could tell the difference. But in this world ghouls were able to differentiate between human and ghoul blood. If she wanted to attract any ghoul clientele she would have to have a variety of scents. For now, her situation made it almost impossible to find any willing blood donors. She'd have to first get a few willing buyers to even think about starting a new network. Just thinking about all that work made Nagi's head ache.

 _'_ _Maa, I'll do it later. After all… I still have plenty of time.'_

* * *

Only a few months into her new routine, Nagi takes a short break from visiting the 13th ward. She does this mainly to focus on painting but also because she noticed how increasingly agitated Uta had been getting from her nightly absences. A whiny and sulky 8-year-old ghoul she could handle. A full-on temper tantrum she'd rather not have to. Despite these seemingly uncaring words, though, Nagi had an undeniable soft spot for her younger brother and while she could seem distant towards him at times, that didn't mean she didn't care for him. She was just lazy that's all.

Cutting back the nights she spent out had her usual schedule filled to the brim with gaps. While she mostly used that time on her upcoming art pieces, she also made a habit of taking Uta around random parts of Tokyo. This habit started after it became apparent to Nagi that Uta needed some sort of physical training.

Some might say 8 years old is too young to start any sort of training. This was something Nagi would call bullshit at if anyone dared to say it to her face. Being born a ghoul in an era where you'd get killed from just that alone meant the sooner you were trained; the better chance you had to survive. The sooner Uta started his training, the sooner he'd be able to follow Nagi along on hunts and the sooner he'd be able to survive the streets of Tokyo without her help.

As strong as she was, Nagi wasn't invincible. There was no guarantee that she would be able to survive every fight she ran into and there was also that off chance of her being killed by a CCG investigator. Dying without leaving Uta a means to defend himself wasn't something Nagi was going to let happen. So with the free time she had, Nagi took Uta to building tops and construction sites where she'd teach the younger ghoul the various park-our tricks she'd picked up over the years.

Uta had a good sense of balance and an animalistic instinct that made him a fast learner but on occasion, he'd still slip up here and there. Whenever he tripped or fell, Nagi was there to catch and cushion his fall. If he tumbled off a steel beam or missed a jump, Nagi would use her kagune to pull him right back up. She'd watch in amusement when he'd pout at her lectures, ruffle his hair when he managed to jump a wall without breaking anything and let a small smile don on her face when he stared wide-eyed at her demonstrations. Teaching Uta wasn't as thrilling as cutting through flesh but it wasn't that dull either.

For a moment, Nagi turned her attention away from Uta to look down at her watch. Over 3 hours had passed since they'd first started their training. It was time to go home.

"Uta." The younger ghoul looked up towards his sister at the call of his name.

"What is it, nee-chan?" He asked.

Nagi pointed to the time on her wristwatch and tapped it while saying, "It's time to go home."

Uta didn't want to go home just yet but knowing Nagi would probably use her kagune to get him to leave one way or another he decided to do it the easy way and comply.

"Hmm, kay~" He answered back and with that Uta jumped down from the concrete pipes he's been standing on and skipped to Nagi's side.

In a moment of mischief, Uta tried to jump on her back but ultimately failed due to two familiar hands that hooked themselves under his armpits. Those very same hands lifted him up into the air and made him face a blank-faced Nagi whose eye glinted with amusement.

"Now just what could my otouto-chan have been trying to do?" She asked teasingly, tilting her head sideways as if to look confused.

Uta, knowing that lying would only damper Nagi's good mood, answered back honestly.

"I wanted a piggyback ride." He said, his grin slowly widening as his sister's hands then proceeded to prop him over her shoulders whist she said, "How about a shoulder ride instead? You can see more clearly from up here."

The two siblings walked like this all the way back to the studio with Uta cherishing every minute of the way.

* * *

By the end of the month, Nagi had managed to complete her first painting. She'd named it _Tokyo's Ghouls_.

It painted out a battle scene between two starving ghouls that were now frozen in time forever. Their faces were blurred and unrecognizable with only the dark pupils of their kakugan. Nagi had deliberately done so to draw more attention to the detailed scars and wounds that littered the body of both ghouls as they fought over the sole corpse of a human. The ghoul on the left, a man of a small but muscular statue with large gashes of missing flesh in his arms, had his bikaku type kagune tail fully released and poised to attack at his opponent. The ghoul on the right, a woman of taller build but a less toned body structure, was in the process of releasing her kagune. Because she had her front facing the painting it was unsure as to what type of kagune the woman had. But the gaping hole in her stomach told everyone looking that she may as well run away.

With their faces blurred there was no way of telling what the ghouls were thinking during their frozen battle scene. Was the man gloating his near victory? Or was he hissing in pain at the sheer extent of his wounds? Was the woman's face twisted in fear for her untimely doom? Or was she laughing in the face of death as she refused to stand down? As any other painting would, depending on what the onlooker thought the painting would be interrupted differently.

The painting had originally been painted in her own blood, onto a large piece of paper. After finishing it and having it out to dry for at least a few days Nagi had then carefully glued it onto a slightly smaller sized canvas. The results had been satisfying enough for her to sign her name at the bottom and inscribe the date beneath it.

"What do you think?" She had asked Uta once it was finished.

The 8-year-old ghoul had just one thing to say.

 _"_ _Kakkoii!" (Cool!)_

* * *

Nagi took the painting to multiple dealers in various parts of Tokyo but couldn't find one who was willing to take in her work. When she wasn't able to sell the painting she then went to galleries put on exhibitions for freelance artists. But in the end, even they turned her down.

This didn't surprise her. It had been like that at first in her past life as well. Back then she had gotten lucky when one of her old college professors had agreed to put in a word for her at his nephew's gallery. It was impossible for her to do something like that here. Here she had no one to turn to for help.

 _'_ _Well, this sucks…'_

After another unsuccessful day, Nagi takes Uta and the painting back to the studio. She heaves her sluggish body onto the mattress of her bed and sinks into the soft linens of her sheets. Uta, noticing how depressed she is, climbs in after her and cradles himself into her arms for a hug. The hug helps somewhat but not much. Still, Nagi doesn't bother to push the younger ghoul away and they both end up just falling asleep.

' _Maybe I'll get luckier next time. There's still time…_ '


End file.
